Madly inflated OVO electricity reading and bill received.... help please!

Ildhund

I'm sorry to hear of your tribulations, Ellie. I too live alone, 'frail and elderly' or  'aged and infirm' or whatever the latest terminology is, with no-one to call on for help, so I can understand at least some of what you feel.

OVO have an exemplary account website, as you seem to have discovered. Check first of all on your profile page what you have recorded as your email address and phone number. These are hard-linked to your account, so use the wrong one when contacting Support and you won't get the treatment you deserve. When you call from the right number, your call should automatically be diverted quickly to an advisor specially trained to help customers on the Priority Services Register (PSR). Please remember to ask if this is the case when you call tomorrow - it doesn't always work as intended.

As others have pointed out, one of the perks of being on the PSR is being able to ask for someone to come and read your meter. I think this will normally happen at least twice a year. You do have the ability to record a safe word on your PSR entry, so you can challenge anyone coming purportedly to read the meter. A genuine meter reader should know the safe word. You could ask the meter reader to take a photo of your meter and email it to you.
 
Last, please reconsider getting a smart meter. The one you have may well be old and its precision not what it was. There is no danger to health from EMF emitted by a smart meter; it is at a much lower level than that coming from, say, your computer, your microwave, your television or indeed from any of the electricity or communications masts nearby. With any luck, a smart meter will circumvent all of the difficulties you're currently facing with estimated readings and scary bills.

PrudentEllie

Thank you all so much for all your good advice!  When I phoned up Ovo this morning, I got through to a surprisingly nice man, and thanks to your advice, I was able to present my case clearly and coherently (something I worried about) - and even got the nice man at Customer Services to chuckle a few times!   He agreed that I was right that it looked odd that I should have used 3 times the electricity in January when not using a single light bulb more and after a history of 15 years of much the same usage, and when I asked later in the conversation about the alleged 'reading' I said that "I bet there isn't a photograph of it" - and there wasn't! 

He has made an appointment for a reading to be taken next week, by the firm that allegedly took it in the first place, on Tuesday, sometime in the morning 8 am - 12 noon, and for them to knock on my door first, and for them to take photos of the meters - and I will too.  (And thank you all again - I did check, I am on the Priority Services Register). 

Because I worry (I bet that was a surprise!) - I managed with great effort to wobble out this morning and took another photo of the meter - it had moved on by 9 units in 24 hours - absolutely correct - but the added effort on top of everything else so exhausted me that by the time I had dragged myself upstairs I fell asleep for several hours - well, I didn't sleep well last night.    

I did at least remember to say to the nice man at Customer Services that I didn't think that the chaos caused in my life by them evidently not reading the meter was intentional, I thought it was probably just people trying to do too much and maybe hurrying, so cutting corners....   

Thank you Ildhund, I didn't know that you could have a word agreed to make sure that the person arriving to read the meter is genuine - I've had a number of frankly worrying callers at my house in the last month who make me glad to learn such things!  (Two men called at the house, saying they could give an estimate to clear the back garden of brambles, long story short, after they knocked on the door I was talking to them out of my upstairs window, and one of them locked eyes with me and said urgently 'Open the door and let us in!  Open the door and let us in!  Open the door and let us in!' Needless to say I did no such thing - but it has made me feel considerably less safe in my own home, and I have invested in a few more stick-on door alarms!  (I also phoned the police to let them know, to try and help others).  I think I have to buy a notice for the front door saying 'no cold callers' too!

Gerry1

PrudentEllie said:

I think I have to buy a notice for the front door saying 'no cold callers' too!

You can probably get a free sticker from your local council or police, similar to this.

https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/business/trading-standards/consumer-advice/rogue-traders-scams-and-cold-callers/door-step/sticker-scheme

PrudentEllie

Am having very patchy internet connection - frustratingly, it keeps dropping out ...   

Thank you all, each and every one of you who have helped, you have been so kind, you have helped more than you know.  I will be back to give an update on the 19th or 20th.  Here's hoping it was just someone cutting corners and they are happy to accept a correction.

imeach

Out of interest where roughly in the country are you? A county would do

OVO wouldn't have had a photo of the reading taken as Morrison Data Services don't take photos of every read. 

I know you say the electricity reading they have is a lot higher but I'm confused, have you got the reading yourself lately as it seems that you currently have no way of doing so with your helpful neighbour gone? 

PrudentEllie

There was a lady from Morrisons Data Services here yesterday and she found the meter to be reading just as I said - so she has taken the meter readings and hopefully I will get a new and revised downwards bill now.  The man from OVO said he would phone this morning, but hasn't - possibly he hasn't had the new readings. 

imeach - as someone else said, they must have assumed the meter readings - based presumably on the size of the house, and just guessed - I live alone apart from the odd rescue animal, and because I am so ill I keep to one room and am very careful with energy use - I have to be, like most of us! 

PrudentEllie

Ildhund - you will be glad to hear to are right, OVO do now have an exemplary Priority Services dept - after waiting for my OVO account meter readings to be updated, or to be phoned by the nice man who said he would phone me last Wednesday, the day after the readings were taken, I phoned OVO up this afternoon and spoke to one of the nicest young ladies in the country I think!  

I explained to her what had happened, and she said it could take up to five working days for meter readings to be updated, more if there is a photo, and it hadn't been updated yet, but she would see if she could help.  So she looked and looked and tried various things and the computer told her no, as it assumed the previous reading was right (as if - at 600 plus units above normal usage for one month for one human being living in one room, with gas central heating - an impossibility!!) - then she tried one last thing (and I prayed silently!) - and it worked.  She also raised a complaint for me - and attached a photo of the meter which she found saying the numbers I said it would say - so it is there if anyone queries it.  The computer also has credited my account - it was saying something like £62 credit and it now says £232 plus a £20 gratuity she gave me for the trouble they've put me through in the last week - and she has sent me an email to that effect.  

I want to thank you all so much for your help - you have each and everyone of you been invaluable, as I've not known until now whether their computer would listen to sense after that completely false 'reading' by Morrisons in February - thank you QrizB,  t0rt0ise, Newbie_John, Robin9, MWT, Scot_39, Ildhund, Gerry1, imeach - you have all been so kind. 

Ildhund

PrudentEllie said:

Ildhund - you will be glad to hear to are right, OVO do now have an exemplary Priority Services dept...

That's really good to hear, and that this sorry episode has reached a successful conclusion. Wouldn't it be wonderful if every customer service agent could behave like that, not just those dealing with us old fusspots!